Chicago to Billings

What the Data Says About ORD to BIL

The Chicago to Billings corridor (ORD → BIL) covers roughly 1,060 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 632 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 82% on-time rate with an average delay of 61.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 632 flights were recorded on this pairing — 2 cancelled (0.3%) and 2 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 3 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 632 total flights analyzed, the 82% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 61.4-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Oct 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 88% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 67% on-time — a 22-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to BIL route, the combination of a 82% on-time rate, 61.4-minute average delay, 0.3% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.